Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-05-24

was nu>it'l, lparTui, shaken IN ever,
limb. Those last wild words those burn
ing tears and kisses on his hand broke th,
charm and recalled him tn realities Fl,
rose now and Tor moment stood over hei
with strange expression, rs If he were
calling down the blessings of heaven upon
her fair head; as if, indeed, he were shrink
ing from some angelic vision that re
proved his own faultiness and mortality
Then, without a word he led her to the
window
IL looked upon the long narrow garden
stretching from he house and little church.
now flooded with warm sunshine All
was calm, golden, peaceful; yet Georgette
gaZed with sudden, unexplained sin king
oi The heart. At the farther end, under
the shadow Of lofty plane tree, was a
deal table and by IL stood patient faced
woman, evidently belonging TO the peasant
class, busily ironing Homely as was her
appearance, IL was, nevertheless not with
out certain dignity and pathos She
looked SO absorbed in the business Of iron
ing, SO forgetful Of self, SO lost to sense
OF everything but the matter of fact, pro
naic task before her
on See yonder poor good woman, "
the pastor said, ~ the pair thus watched
the unconscious figure from the window
4 loved another, whose story you have
just told But the first act Of my new
llfe, anu newly awakened conscience, WAS
10 atone 10 her | had wrouged ia my
youth
And romance had now surely knocked
at that parsonage door for the first, last
time. With burning tears a hand clasp.
whispered word, and one long, lingering
gaze into each others ewes, the two
parted. Who shall say ever 10 meet
again
Strange as il would seem at first sight.
this fateful meeting little affected the
tenor Of their outward lives Ii was ss If
all the daring, all the heroism, all the
force Of these t'o characters had been
already spent; by Georgette de Beaumont
upon the Initiative that had been the one
truly fine act of her life; by the pastor,
upon the twofold sacrifice made for con
science sake. He had suddenly found
himself at the parting Of the ways; on the
one hand, beckoned worldly fortune,
the esteem Of the great, q command
ing social position, on the other
poverty, scorn, an abnormal condition.
but, coupled with these. u conscience at
rest. Then came the second choice. He
might make material atonement to the
peasant girl he had wronged years before.
He might then, having dismissed this sub
iect Of self reprosch, think Of the fireside
happiness no longer denied him, and even
dream Of Georgette, the beautiful
Georgette,
Once the straight path taken, the tempt
ing traverse lost sight OF forever, he
seemed 10 lose all ambition, all enterprise.
even all cafscity of looking forward.
Again and again after that interview
Georgette tried to rouse him from his
lethargy and entice him from the dead
alive country town In which he was lost |
10 the world Yet he seemed not I'M
happy, rather passive and automatic, As il T!
the strings Of passion and action were
stopped forever, brought to standstill by .
some rude shock
II was the same with Georgette After |
that journey 10 the parsonage amid the |
vines, she returned whittier she had come
and continued 10 live in the world. Again /
and again suitors demanded her hand, but
she steadfastly refused to marry E.
" in Temple Bar.